Lavrov: The US has apologized for Deir ez-Zor, but actions speak louder than words

The US government has offered its apologies to the leadership of Syria for the airstrike against Syrian army positions that led to the death of 60 to 80 soldiers. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, RT reports.

“Yes, they apologized. The situation is a little strange. I told Secretary of State John Kerry once and then again at a meeting of the International Syria support Group that the situation in Deir ez-Zor, unlike in Aleppo where the contact line is always changing, has been static for more than two years. Syrian troops there have been surrounded by ISIS,” Lavrov said.

The minister emphasized that the only way out of the difficult situation is honest, joint work “when all ceasefire agreements will be fulfilled and unilateral demands are not pushed forward only to then make a ‘gesture of goodwill’ in the hope that this will pay off.”

However, Lavrov stated, no positive steps have been witnessed on the part of the Syrian government’s opponents.

“Already several times over the past months, we have met and announced coordination with the Americans on a pause around Aleppo, but after 48 hours and 72 hours later every time we realize that these pauses have been used to reinforce the manpower, supplies, and armaments of militants, including Al-Nusra,” the Russian foreign minister remarked.